Found Community ConversationsKalyi & Sarah
Kalyi regularly attends the A/pART Collage Club and is a Paddington local. She is a photographer and artist who has exhibited widely, but working in collage and analogue 2D media is new to her creative practice.
Sarah: I know you've been making art for most of your life and have a great deal of experience as an artist. I'm interested in your current process. Is it similar to how you've worked previously, or does it feel very different?
Kalyi: Initially I thought it would be similar, but it's actually very different. I used to work primarily with photographs, both my own and found imagery. I'd combine everything digitally using Photoshop. It's completely different physically cutting images out. Honestly, it feels a bit like starting from scratch. I've been experimenting at home because I knew I wouldn't understand the medium after just a couple of workshops. I've had to play. One of the images I've used is the nude athlete with the sneakers.
Sarah: And the amazing pebble-shaped bottom!
Kalyi: Exactly.
I've placed her into a desert landscape because I was drawn to that book. I also incorporated a photograph that was given to me while I was living in London. The photo came from a friend who photographed strange orbs appearing in her house and garden. I know the image wasn't manipulated. She would never have altered it. I've always loved that photograph. I photocopied it because I didn't want to damage the original.
Sarah: That's one of the beautiful things about found imagery. You don't always have to cut the original. You can preserve it and still work with it.
Kalyi: Exactly.
Sarah: I'm also curious about your relationship with art, health, and wellbeing. Does creativity help you feel well? Is it something you turn to when you're struggling? Or is it simply something you've always done?
Kalyi: That's a really good question. I've never really thought about it before. I definitely feel better when I'm making things. I enter what people call a flow state. Time disappears. I stop thinking about all the things I normally worry about, and the work starts to come alive. So yes, I suppose it does contribute to my wellbeing. When I first came to these workshops, I probably would have said, "I used to be an artist." This process has helped me start creating again. And that's been really, really good. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed it.
Sarah: I love hearing that. I've actually been reading a lot about flow recently. There's a psychologist who spent years studying creativity and trying to describe that feeling artists often talk about. Everyone who has made art seems to know exactly what flow is.
Kalyi: Absolutely. It's a great term.
Kalyi Amoto, Red desert orbs (2026).
Kalyi Amoto, Tabby’s star portal to Gobekli Tepe (2026).